School Library Journal Review
PreS-In this fun, bold picture book, readers will find contemporary and classic rhymes accompanied by brightly colored illustrations with simple shapes and a lot of white space. These pictures dance across both pages while the words are lyrically positioned around them. On some pages, parents and teachers will be able to teach concepts like shapes and colors: on other pages, the lesson will be counting. "Five/little ducks/went out one day,Over the hill and far away. Mother duck said/Quack, quack, quack, quack,/But only four little ducks/came back." The itsy bitsy spider rhyme contrasts nicely to the very fat elephant song. Preschoolers will enjoy joining in with the verses and it will be easy for them, parents, and teachers because of the accompanying CD. VERDICT Fans of Eric Carle and Bill Martin will love this charming title.-Gwen Collier, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, NY © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Colorful illustrations and simple nursery rhymes with an accompanying audio CD make up this picture book. On each double-page spread of this portrait-format picture book, colorful type tells a simple nursery rhyme, and the subject of the rhyme is illustrated with ample white space surrounding it. As a stand-alone picture book, it's a bit rote, even if van Hout's carefree, doodlelike illustrations are chock-full of whimsy. But once the CD is popped in, each spread comes alive as the uncluttered mother-and-daughter vocals of the Chambers Family turn the nursery rhyme into a little song. With the exception of the first song, which is 2 1/2 minutes, the rest of the songs are under 1 minuteeven when they are repeated twice (a perfect opportunity for readers to sing along the second time). Some of the nursery rhymes are familiar, such as "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," but many are likely to be new to readersand the one about the centipede is delightfully silly. The last rhyme, about a baby bird under its mother's wing, is an especially satisfying way to end the book, but unfortunately the centrally placed illustration (like several others) suffers from being bisected by the gutter. It's not terrible, but it is visually distracting. Lighthearted fun with a warm, musical touch. (Picture book/poetry. 2-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
